5 Questions with Matt Bukovac

The 4th reading in our FORUM “Soundings” series is LIGHT IN THE DARKNESS BURNING by Matt Bukovac. This reading will be begin at 7:00pm and will be held at Fairleigh Dickinson University, Dreyfuss Theatre, 285 Madison Avenue, Madison, NJ. Click here for directions. Click here for a printable map of the campus (the Dreyfuss Theatre is located in Building 9).

As a daughter struggles to cope with the sins of her father, she goes on a journey to find out exactly what he is accused of. One she does, everything changes and just having her father’s love isn’t enough anymore; in her attempts to find the truth, can she truly be set free?

Matt Bukovac is an award winning Playwright and screenwriter. Receiving his first professional production at the age of eighteen, he has been committed to writing scripts for over a decade.
He holds an MFA in dramatic writing from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, where he won the 2010 Venable Herndon Award in screenwriting. He is a playwriting resident alumnus of the Kennedy Center and the recipient of two PONY Award Nominations.

1. Where did you get the inspiration for this play?
To tell the truth, I couldn’t answer where I got the idea for the play without giving things away details about how the plot develops.

2. You received your first professional production at the age of eighteen. What was it about and who produced it?
My first professional production was at the Missouri Rep, now the KC Rep. They produced two of my plays: A Man’s Relationship With His Telephone and Variations of a Proposal. Variations of a Proposal, is made up of twelve different scenes all dealing with marriage proposals. A Man’s Relationship With His Telephone is about a man going insane waiting for a phone call.

3. As a playwriting resident alumnus of the Kennedy Center, what was the greatest lesson you learned there? I couldn’t really say. I loved the Kennedy Center, and the people I worked with were wonderful. But I don’t know if I could pick out any unique lesson I gained there.

4. You are a playwright and a screenwriter. How do you decide which medium to choose when telling your stories? If I come up with a simple story that deals with very complicated issues, I write it as a play. If, in contrast, I feel like writing something big, something with a cast of thirty and a car that blows up, I write a screenplay. The theater is where I deal with the ideas that are close to my heart, or perhaps more accurately, I should say my brain. It’s where I wrestle with the thoughts that keep me up at night. Screenplays are a great place to have fun.

5. If we dared you to go swimming with sharks in Australia or hang out with a bunch of kittens at a local rescue, which would you choose and why? Swimming with sharks– all day, all week. If I wanted, or had any interest, in taking care of kittens at the pound, I would. So could anybody that picks kittens as answer. It’s not a difficult thing to do. In contrast, assuming you don’t live off of the Cape of Good Hope or in Australia, swimming with sharks is a once in a lifetime opportunity.

♦ Playwrights Theatre will present these readings free of charge, with an optional donation of $10
♦ A $25 dollar donation will get you a FORUM pass that covers all of the readings.
♦ A $250 donation will get you a rehearsal pass that allows access to all reading rehearsals.
♦ Reservations can be made online at or call (973) 514-1787 X10